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Friday, March 16, 2018

We are all looking forward to the annual musical production, as Urinetown takes the stage tonight and tomorrow at 7, followed by Sunday's 2:00 p.m. matinee. We are excited to showcase the many talents of our students, the hard work of the crew, and the dedication of the entire company and its advisors. We hope many of you are able to join us and enjoy the show!

Course Selections Complete

At this point, our counselors have met with the students in all five grades (7-11) and will be completing the data entry process next week. After that, we will have a better sense of what sections will be running for next year, and any conflicts will start being ironed out. If parents have any questions about course selections, contact the high school guidance counselors.

Accuplacer
Juniors who wish to take an Early College course next year must take Accuplacer. We offered the test for the first time on Friday and have a second date later in March. Any student who may not have registered but still want the opportunity to do so may reach out to the counselors and arrange for a test date later this spring, likely to happen at Quinsigamond Community College.

Spring Sports
Spring sports start Monday - regardless of what the snow on the ground or the current forecast may tell us. Here are the start times/locations for Monday, March 19:

Girls/Boys Track 2-430pm

Boys/Girls Tennis 2-4pm in Gym

Softball 4-6pm in the Gym

Baseball 6-8pm in the Gym

Finally, we wish our Science Olympiad team best of luck at the State Championship on Saturday!

Wednesday, March 14, 2018

Earlier today, we had a student-led event UHSin conjunction with the National School Walkout Day that was planned and facilitated nationally. While some events across the country took a decidedly partisan tone, and even veered toward a political commentary on the Second Amendment, our event at Uxbridge High School struck a cord of mutual support and reconciliation, with the hope of our students leading the world to a better tomorrow.

The students exited the building and stood in silence for about 17 minutes, in memory of and out of respect for the 17 victims of the Parkland shooting. The students who participated, numbering about 100, signed pledges of support, for our community and in support of their peers in Parkland, Florida, for whom many students feel a sense of connectivity through the tragedy that occurred there last month. One of those banners will be sent to Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School Finally, three student speakers addressed the group, which by then had moved back into the building.

The sentiments of the students are what is most important about any event that is student-driven. Emily Fernandes, a senior member of the UHS School Council, spoke about having “the right to fear, feel angry, and go through all these emotions when awful incidents occur...when a place every one of us spends their childhood does not give us the same feeling it used to walking through those front doors, it can change a way we view a certain place.” Another part of that oratory shared that “when we unite to make this place a better environment and look out for one another, we make change we may not immediately see, but we’ll feel.” That sentiment was echoed by the other student speakers, Senior Class President Riley Malone, who stated, “these moments need individuals to come together to support each other and support a strengthened movement that will aid in the protection of a world against common injustice.” Finally, Trevor Rafferty, Student Council president, offered a plea, that “if you know someone is unwell, make them your mission. Take the time to help them. Learn what is bothering them. If it isn’t something that the two of you can work through, just look around.”

More importantly, as classes changed, a couple of students who were not participating walked by the doors and offered their sentiment, stating that while they did not want to participate, they “respected those who did.”

Our hope in facilitating these types of events is not to stifle debate or to pursue one viewpoint over another; rather, it is to shape in our young adults a commitment to listening, to asking, to questioning, to articulating, to accepting. That we had an opportunity to acknowledge our place in a difficult and changing world, and that our students seized that moment appropriately for our community, makes us all proud and looking forward to a better tomorrow.

Monday, March 12, 2018

Over the past couple of weeks, I have met with some student leaders to discuss student voice and advocacy relevant to the national movement occurring on March 14th. An Uxbridge High School student-led movement, for and by the students, will occur on this day for UHS from 9:25-9:45. This event is in solidarity with those affected by the Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School tragedy, as we are planning on discussing our core values and supporting that community in a safe way, with politics aside.

We want to ensure a safe process that allows as many students as possible to participate if they so choose. Students will be able to participate if they sign up ahead of time using a Google form that we are sending to them, which will happen at the start of flex block. Upon leaving, the students will walk out to the rear of the building, which will not be accessible the general public during this time. There will be a banner of support to sign for Marjory Stoneman Douglas High School, a couple of student speakers, and a planned moment of silence. Those who do not sign up ahead of time will not be permitted to participate, and the event is entirely voluntary. Administration and faculty will be there solely to help supervise. Those who do not participate will stay in class. The event will end at the end of the flex block, which means by 9:50 we are all back in school.

Some teachers are organizing an opportunity for students to write letters to elected officials. They will provide contact info for each person representing Uxbridge through all layers of government, enabling them to speak out to our officials on topics related to school safety and gun access. Our staff, teachers, and administration will not push one position, but we are encouraging students to be actively involved in the national debate and to influence policy.

Friday, March 9, 2018

Short version of the weekly notes this week, as I was the co-chair at a NEASC accreditation visit from Sunday-Wednesday of this week. It was an incredibly rewarding experience, and we are learning a lot in advance of not only our own visit next year but in our school's alignment to the reaccreditation standards. As we continue to make decisions around our core values, we trust that where we have been, where we are, and where we are headed will continue to evolve based on our goals.

Congratulations!

The Uxbridge Student Council recently earned the triple crown at this week's Massachusetts State Student Council conference, earning a Gold Council of Excellence Award, being awarded a "Top Ten Service Project" honor, and having senior Scott Kaeller honored as an "Unsung Hero." We will have some pictures and a full writeup of these honors in our next monthly newsletter, but congratulations to Ms. Bernard and the entire StuCo team!

Grade 7-8 Course Selections

The Uxbridge High School guidance counselors will be meeting with grade 7 and 8 students on Wednesday and Thursday (March 14-15) to review course selections for next year. For the most part, core courses are completed by the grade-level teachers and will be input to iPass for review. (For grade 7, there is only one department where there is a core course choice: grade 8 math or grade 8 algebra).

The counselors will be helping students select elective courses. The full list of helpful documents are linked at the high school website, and we will be sending home a hard copy of the course selection sheets with students on Monday for them to review with parents before starting the data entry process.

Questions after next week can be directed specifically to the high school counseling team or Mr. Flanagan.

We are looking forward to Sunday's Academic Awards luncheon, where we honor a number of juniors and seniors for their academic success over the past several quarters. Many thanks to Mr. DiMeglio for his hard work in organizing the event, and Mr. Barros for facilitating the production of the video that will air on Sunday. We are excited for our students and congratulate all of them and their families!

School Council

Our School Council will meet on Tuesday, March 13 at 7:00 in the high school library. This month, we will begin looking at updates to the School Improvement Plan while providing some updates on some current initiatives, including our Innovation Pathway application, Early College momentum, and partnerships with the Blackstone Valley Chamber of Commerce. We will also be looking ahead to April and May with an eye on the accreditation self-study visit in December.

If parents of current grade 7 or 8 students who will be parents of UHS students next year would like to get involved, either as parent members or in terms of attending meetings, please let us know!

Have a great weekend - and let's hope for some warmer, calmer weather!

Friday, March 2, 2018

The Dairy Queen fundraiser at Milford for the class of 2020 is still happening tonight (Friday, March 2) from 5 to 8 pm. I know that there is a chance that the rain will turn to snow later today. I ask everyone to be aware of the weather during that time and to drive safely if you are planning to stop by. If not, we'll have other opportunities to raise fund for the class. Whatever happens, we still thank you for your support.

Reminder: Spring athletics registration is open via FamilyID. Click at this link (or paste https://www.familyid.com/organizations/uxbridge-public-schools) to sign up for tennis, track, baseball, and/or softball. Questions can be directed to Mr. Calarese.

Just a reminder that our newsletters, previous messages, letters home, etc. are all stored on my blog: uhsprincipal.blogspot.com. If you want to search for something specific, it is as easy as looking through the archive on the right side of the page OR clicking on the "labels" at the bottom of an article. For example, for all posts about the Class of 2020, you can search for that label and all posts that reference Class of 2020 (like this one) will show up.

We wanted to thank everyone for their attendance and energy last night. We understand the commitment to being here for a couple of hours, but we also hope that we were able to answer many of the questions that you may have had. We will be publishing some of the parent FAQ's in the FAQ document; the first several questions were shared last night and, as the document updates, we will continue to have that link live on the "scheduling website."

Those who did not attend, fear not - we have all the information available online. The presentation from last night can be viewed here. The video, which was not buffering correctly last night but seems to be okay on Youtube, can be viewed here. Finally, the Program of Studies has all the relevant course descriptions, and the course selection sheet (the yellow page distributed last night) can be accessed on the scheduling site as well.

The scheduling tab with all the information from last night and beyond can also be accessed here.

If you have any feedback for us, please let us know. We look forward to helping you through navigating the process and addressing any challenges, both unforeseen or otherwise.